Earth Science Week 2009 kicks off this Sunday, October 11, with “Climate and Weather Day: An Earth Science Fair” from 12 noon to 2 p.m. at Baltimore’s Maryland Science Center. In addition to the science center’s many longstanding science offerings, special displays will highlight the science of climatology.

Presenters such as NASA, the National Weather Service, the National Park Service, the Maryland Geological Survey, the Association of Women Geoscientists, and AGI will provide hands-on, interactive demonstrations and handouts.

For more information or to participate, visit the Maryland Science Center, 601 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230-3899 (http://www.mdsci.org). The event is just one of many taking place nationwide during Earth Science Week. To learn about more, keep reading!

Throughout Earth Science Week 2009 (October 11-17), students will explore mines and caves, sample groundwater, monitor the weather, visit museums and science centers, prepare science projects, and conduct investigations. Leading them will be outstanding educators like you.

You’re encouraged to lead your own celebration. Conduct an Earth science lab activity, using one of the many activities on the Earth Science Week website (http://www.earthsciweek.org). In the process, you can heighten awareness of the importance of Earth science education to students’ informed decisionmaking, responsible citizenship, and career success.

During Earth Science Week, NASA will release five short educational videos, all part of a series entitled “Tides of Change.” The videos, focusing on the connection between ocean and climate, will be posted at NASA Global Climate Change (http://climate.nasa.gov), a one-stop shop for NASA Earth Science Week education resources related to understanding climate.

On Wednesday, October 14, classrooms around the country are invited to participate in a live webcast on NASA’s Digital Learning Network (http://dln.nasa.gov). The webcast will feature two oceanographers discussing their careers, illustrating NASA’s unique view of the oceans from space, and answering questions from participants.

In addition, NASA has contributed several items to the Earth Science Week 2009 Toolkit. For example, The Dynamic Earth DVD (http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/for_educators/educational_dvd.php) provides an 18-minute overview of the Earth system, climate change, and how NASA observes the planet. To illustrate instruction about Earth and space, teachers also can consult NASA Images (http://www.nasaimages.org), the largest collection of NASA media - still images, video, and audio - available from a single, searchable site.

Grab your pencils, paints, and creative minds! The Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling are looking for your best and brightest original artwork of its ship, the JOIDES Resolution (JR).

Students are encouraged to submit entries for the J-aRt Contest. Create a drawing, painting, or other artwork featuring the JR and its work. Winning classrooms and schools will be visited by JR crew and staff.

A research vessel, the JR takes core samples and measurements from under the ocean floor, giving scientists a glimpse into Earth’s development and also a scientific means of measuring climate and environmental change throughout a significant part of our planet’s history. To learn more about the ship, visit http://joidesresolution.org. Submissions are due November 10. For rules and instructions, visit http://joidesresolution.org/node/446.

Overlapping Earth Science Week this year, National Wildlife Refuge Week also is being held October 11-17. The event celebrates the richness of the 550 units that make up America’s National Wildlife Refuge System.

Whether you prefer to study Earth science firsthand, admire the fall colors, thrill to a skyful of migratory birds, explore a mountain trail, or learn about the cultural resources that are part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s conservation mission, you can find what you like at a National Wildlife Refuge.

Apply now for the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship, a paid fellowship for K-12 math, science, and technology teachers. Einstein Fellows spend a school year in Washington, D.C. serving in a federal agency or on Capitol Hill.

To be considered for an Einstein Fellowship for the 2010-11 school year, apply and submit three letters of recommendation online by January 13, 2010.

Join PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) for a special live event celebrating Earth Science Week 2009, “How We Know What We Know: Looking at Climate Change Through Polar Science.” Polar researchers Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette and Dr. Ross Powell and PolarTREC teacher Tim Martin will discuss climate research conducted in the Arctic and Antarctica through sediment coring.

The live online event will take place Friday, October 16, at 9 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time (7 a.m. HST, 10 a.m. PDT, 11 p.m. MDT, 12 p.m. CDT, 1 p.m. EDT). To participate, register online (http://www.polartrec.com/live-from-ipy/overview). Instructions are sent via email once you register and are available for downloading on the website.

Want to see yourself and your students on the Earth Science Week website? Simply send us photos from your Earth Science Week celebrations and activities (along with any necessary signed permission forms). We’ll post selected images on the Earth Science Week Photo Gallery (http://www.earthsciweek.org/whatsgoingon/gallery/photos.html).

By submitting a photo, you agree to allow AGI to post the image on the Earth Science Week website, without compensation unless prohibited. All submissions and all rights of ownership in and to the images, including all rights to use, reproduce, publish, modify, edit, and distribute the same will become the exclusive property of AGI and will not be returned. AGI reserves the right to edit, modify, adapt, copyright, publish, use, and reproduce any and all entries without further compensation.

****************************Contest Winners to Be Announced Next Month ****************************

AGI thanks the many hundreds of students, educators, and others who entered this year’s Earth Science Week photo, visual arts, and essay contests, as well as the International Year of Planet Earth-Earth Science Week photo contest.

Winners will be announced in November 2009. AGI will contact winners directly and recognize their success both on the Earth Science Week website (http://www.earthsciweek.org) and in this electronic newsletter.

Earth science is studied all year long - but Earth Science Week 2009 events close with a U.S. Geological Survey Open House from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, October 17, at the Silvio O. Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center, 1 Migratory Way, Turner Falls, Massachusetts.

Visit the center for exhibits and demonstrations with sturgeon, fish ladders, models, and research techniques. Groups larger than six people are asked to have chaperones and call ahead at 413-863-3800 before October 17.

****************************The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of 45 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society’s use of resources and interaction with the environment. For contact information, please visit http://www.earthsciweek.org/contactus/index.html.